history of cleaning Flashcards
ancient history
2800 - 2200 BC
- Among the first references of soap-like-substances Babylon (Ancient Mesopotamia)
- There are references to recipes for soap made from fats boiled with ashes
1800 – 1500 BC
- The Ancient Egyptians were regular bathers and used a substance derived from Vegetable oils, fats and alkaline salts.
- This was also used to treat skin irritation
Transition from BC to AD
- The Romans describe a substances called ‘Sapo’ in Latin, potentially derived from the Celts
- Word ‘Saipo’ in reference to soap
- They had used oil for cleaning purposes up until this point
The origins of cleanliness and hygiene date back to ancient history
ancient civilisation used substances to clean when
Without understanding exactly what it was doing,
To remove dirt and contamination from their bodies
- These products were also used in the production of textiles and for the cleaning of utensils
Before we had even discovered the micro-world,
At a time when illness was believed to be cast down from the Gods, when there was no understanding of microorganisms, we were inadvertently creating a means of counteracting their ill effects
middle ages
Circa 500 AD
- The middles ages had arrived and as our populations grew
- The density of our populations also increased, We inhabited towns and cities
- We used soaps for cleaning & hygiene purposes, but we understood nothing of the spread of infection or how to manage that
6th century – 17th century
- Numerous plagues ravaged human societies throughout the world, generally with huge death tolls
- We had very little understanding of what was going on, and, how to combat it.
- These plagues spread across Europe and Asia through trade and travel routes
- One of the first pandemics was recorded in the Roman empire in 541 AD. The pathogen responsible ‘Yersinia Pestis’
- These occurrences happened throughout the preceding centuries, spreading across Europe, Asia and Northern Africa.
17th Century
- Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek worked within the textiles industry and wanted to check the quality of the stitching and threads of his products.
- Current devices didn’t afford the level of magnification that he was looking for. He took an interest in developing his own lenses and managed to create a level of magnification never seen before in the history of humanity
- First referred to as ‘dierkens’, the world of microorganisms had been discovered
- Upon inspecting his fabrics, with this incredible level of magnification, he discovered they were inhabited by ‘small creatures’
antonie van leeuwenhoek
17th Century
- Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek worked within the textiles industry and wanted to check the quality of the stitching and threads of his products.
- Current devices didn’t afford the level of magnification that he was looking for. He took an interest in developing his own lenses and managed to create a level of magnification never seen before in the history of humanity
- First referred to as ‘dierkens’, the world of microorganisms had been discovered
- Upon inspecting his fabrics, with this incredible level of magnification, he discovered they were inhabited by ‘small creatures’
‘dierkens’
antonie van leeuwenhoek 17th century
microscope like instrument
- required a little glass bead to produce the magnification
19th century
Science and health care have come a significantly long way.
- Physicians and surgeons have developed innovative and effective means of treating health conditions.
As our knowledge grew so did our ambitions
- The age of dentistry and invasive surgery was here
The scientist and innovator
‘Louis Pastuer’ developed the germ theory which had been surmised but never proven
miasma
A cloud of ‘bad air’ that lingered in the environment
- If you walked through it, it would cause illness or infection
This was the predominant theory before Louis Pasteur proved otherwise
germ theory
19th century
Louis Pasteur developed an experiment to prove microorganisms were present in our environment & surroundings and caused disease and infections
- He boiled a swan necked beaker filled with water to see if anything could colonize afterwards. Then repeated the experiment without the neck, and then by tilting the beaker exposing the fluid within
Louis Pasteur had proved that there were microorganisms surrounding us, but also, that we could take measures to protect ourselves from them
‘Pasteur’isation
applied heat to a liquid we would kill all the microorganisms within it, preventing them from contaminating it
then covered that liquid container, we could prevent anything else from contaminating it
Louis Pasteur’s developed a way of sterilisation
Louis Pasteur went on to develop a means of sterilization by way of using a pressure cooker (Autoclave) to achieve higher temperatures than boiling
- Implements and utensils could be placed within and a specific pressure could be achieved which allowed higher temperatures to be achieved
These innovations were essential as the modern age of surgery and invasive treatment, brought with them, a requirement for sufficient processing of ‘Tools’
all developments of 18th and 19th century on beginning of contemporary age healthcare
We were able to carry out invasive procedures on patients with varying levels of success, as our knowledge developed.
- But there was still significant loss of life after invasive procedures had been carried out.
reasons for high loss of life after invasive surgeries at start of contemporary age
The tool kit or ‘Instrumentation’ as it is commonly referred to, had developed in complexity, to assist the ambitious nature of the procedures that were being carried out.
Due to this complexity there was then a requirement to match our processing of this ‘Instrumentation’ with a complex and effective system of cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation
guidelines for Healthcare decon
BS EN are the ‘Standards’ we operate to (British Standards European Norms)
SHTM’s are the ‘Guidance documents’ we use to reference these standards
And ‘Legislation’ has been created to insist on a legal requirement that everyone achieve
These set-points, through processing agreed and developed by scientific, health-care and engineering collaboration
the process and stages
clean all of out instrumentation first
- carried out manually or by means of an automated process in a washer-disinfector
inspected to verify all visible contamination has been removed
After all visible contamination has been removed, process our instruments through a ‘steam sterilzer’
- vacuum and non-vacuum machines
Vacuum is the best process
Non-vacuum being similar to the pressure cooker that Louis Pasteur experimented with
